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'Funding will help future generations stargaze'

Pamela TickellNorth East and Cumbria
News imageG Woodburn The night-sky is illuminated in hues of green, pink and purple above the clouds, as part of the northern lights. A coastline and the ocean line the bottom of the frame, with bright yellow orbs of light illuminated at the coast.G Woodburn
Phenomena including the Aurora Borealis can be seen over Beadnell

A £227,000 grant will "ensure that we don't lose our stars to light pollution", an organisation has said.

Northumberland Coast National Landscape (NCNL) said it would use National Lottery Heritage funding to protect dark skies on its coastline.

Some of the money will be used to create accessible Dark Sky Discovery sites on the coast at Warkworth, Alnmouth, Bamburgh, Cocklawburn and near Dunstanburgh Castle, with tilted benches for a better view of the night sky.

It will also fund education outreach, pollution monitoring and the retrofitting of motion-sensor "dark sky friendly lighting" on farms.

NCNL said the coastline from the coquet estuary at Amble to Berwick-upon-Tweed was already "intrinsically dark" because of the North Sea, but that artificial light had been steadily growing.

Project officer of the NCNL's Dark Skies Project Theia Batchelor said on a clear night people could see the Milky Way with the naked eye.

"We've got really good habitats already for insects, birds, bats - but it's being able to improve on them even more" she said.

News imageDru Dodd The sky at night is dotted with bright stars and a streak of black that looks like a tear in the sky. There are single-storey wooden huts in the foreground. The roofs are curved up to a single point and there are small ships moored on the left.Dru Dodd
The Milky Way can be seen from Holy Island

Light pollution is excessive outdoor light which can come from things like street lights and advertising and can affect wildlife.

Batchelor said NCNL was setting up surveys to measure night level pollution in the area.

It was also working on groundworks to make the new Dark Sky Discovery sites suitable for wheelchair access and installing angled posts for people to take pictures on their mobile phones.

"The angle of the post will get you a really nice picture of the night sky with a bit of the coast in as well," she said.

Batchelor said the project would build on work already started by "passionate community members".

News imagePA Media Two people taking photographs near a white hut, raised on stilts. The sky is lit red and green.PA Media
Northern lights spotted at the refuge hut on the causeway leading to Holy Island

The organisation is led by the North East Combined Authority and funded by Defra and Northumberland County Council.

NCNL partnership chair Patrick Norris said: "This project will ensure that we don't lose our stars to light pollution and that night-time tranquillity can be experienced for generations to come."

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